Some bottles, particularly those containing liquor, are sealed using a plastic or metallic foil seal formed as a sheath that covers the opening and upper part of the neck of the bottle. Wine bottles, for instance, are generally sealed with a cork which is then covered with a plastic or foil seal. The seal functions to provide a visual seal and to protect the opening of the bottle from damage and contaminants.
In the past it has been customary to remove such a seal prior to removing the cork and dispensing the contents of the bottle. Although a corkscrew may effectively remove a cork through such a seal, unless the seal is removed or partially cutaway prior to pulling the cork, a rough or jagged edge remains around the bottle opening. This makes pouring from the bottle difficult, or at least messy.
To overcome this problem, the seal can be completely removed from the neck of the bottle, before removing the cork. This is often difficult, however, because the seal is typically formed of a tough resilient material that is tightly wound around the outside of the bottle. In addition, dining etiquette is such that only the seal material around the bottle opening is removed. The remaining seal, on the neck of the bottle, is left intact to provide what is regarded as a proper or appealing appearance for serving from the bottle.
The seal is typically cut away from the bottle opening using a straight blade knife that is held against the seal and rotated around the bottle. Such a knife may be built into a waiter's style corkscrew. This operation may be time consuming and sometimes difficult, even for one of considerable skill in using such a knife.
It is also possible to cut away the seal using a special cutting tool. Cutting tools for removing such seals have been known since at least the 1914 U.S. Pat. No. 1,102,124 to Baptiste. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,439,894 and 3,203,087 to Jahn disclose more recent cutting tools for bottle seals. Another even more recent cutting tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,844 to Allen. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,643 to Pomante discloses a cutting tool for cutting away safety closures used in the packaging of drugs.
Each of these tools may function effectively for its intended purpose. In general, however, they each suffer from some limitations and none has received widespread commercial acceptance. Some of these tools are difficult to operate or may not accommodate bottles having different neck sizes or styles. Others may not be adaptable to manufacture using low cost materials such as injection molded plastics, and may be too expensive for household consumers.
Accordingly there is a need in the art for a low cost tool that can be easily operated by an unskilled user to cut a plastic or foil seal on a bottle. There is a further need for a tool that can accommodate a range of bottle styles and sizes.
It is therefor an object of the present invention to provide a tool that can be used to cut a seal on a neck of a bottle, such as a wine bottle, having a foil or plastic seal. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tool that can be used on different styles and sizes of bottles. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tool that is simple in construction, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. It is also an object of this invention to provide a light weight, inexpensive tool to sever the plastic seal formed on a bottle at the base of the cap or cork.